I was at the gun shop today and saw and held the first freedom arms I've ever seen in person....WOW am I in love. It was a premier grade model 83...7 1/2 inch barrel and chambered in 41 mag. It felt so nice in the hand..not too heavy just right. It seemed so perfectly built. Now I have a better understanding for you ADDICTS. This gun looks like hardly ever shot....probably hardly ever handled either. It was hidden away on a shelf with some old west guns.......only $1599!!!! wow i wish i could come up with that before someone else finds this gem

Sounds like a pretty good buy if in that condition! If that's the caliber you want, better grab it or put it on lay away! A new one will set you back $2230.

That's a pretty good deal.

You know the Nike shoe slogan right???

JUST DO IT!!!

I hate to rain on a parade but see if you can shoot the gun first to see how it groups.
There are two reasons to sell a Freedom, it does not shoot good or the owner lost his job. Many are tack drivers but just as many will not group. They are fit too tight, zero play in the cylinder is not good unless all is PERFECT.
Here is a Freedom cylinder showing off center wear and wear was in a different spot in each throat. The rifling was worn away on one side past the forcing cone from out of line chambers forcing bullets off center by the cylinder not being able to move.
In over 56 years working with revolvers, I have never seen wear this bad and the gun only had around 300 rounds through it.
Take it or leave it but the way the gun feels has nothing to do with what it does.
Some Freedoms shoot like crazy but many are nice wall hangers.
Many have oversize and out of round bores.

Here is an individual chamber test done with a Freedom.

I get hammered about the Freedom but I will never waste my money unless I can shoot the gun first. They are FAR over priced.

Chamber 6? What caliber? Wouldn't FA warranty a gun that was that far out of alignment? They always come with a factory target, I thought.

The cylinder and wear was with a mod 83 .454 and the groups were from a .357 that had two barrels and a cylinder replaced.
The original barrel was over size at .3594" and out of round, the second was worse at .3599" and out of round, the throats were .357". The last barrel was an even .357" but still shot the groups I showed. I still say they are too tight. There is zero play in the cylinder. The bullet can not get in line, the cylinder forces the bullet instead.
Line boring does not ensure all is in line. There is no barrel in the frame when it is done and the chambers still have to be reamed from the other side.

I love my Freedom Arms and they are a great company to work with, 430man is only guy who I have ever heard of to rant on their guns. I mean if they were such a iffy proposition to buy then why do 90%+ of the revolver class shooters in silhouette shooting running their guns? I know there are two sides to every story and I know FA has a different view of that .357 that 430man speaks of than he does.

They are man made and mechanical so they could have imperfections but I don't personally know of anyone who has had a major problem with one of their guns beyond a broken firing pin from dry firing without snap caps. The guns shoot and are proved out every time before they leave the factory from a mechanical rest. It is very hard to believe that a FA would have major problems and still get out the door from the factory, FA's reputation demands this type of vigilance. For what they cost they have to be right and if you look at what you get for your money against what it takes in custom revolvers to match the performance, they are a bargain.

If you like it get it, the odds are you will get a gun that will out shoot anything you can hold. Last week Glenn Swaggart was running his 10" scoped 454 running with a near max load with the FA 260gr jacketed and put a 1 1/2" 3 shot group on one of my steel plates at 150 yards from a solid rest!

Buy with confidence...

It is not a rant, it is fact. There are perfect Freedoms and there are those that are not. I will not get into the trouble a customer had with Baker but it was horrid.
I can not buy any Freedom with confidence unless I can actually test it by shooting. I have to ask why so many are for sale on Gun Broker and other places? My customer had his on consignment in a gun store--CHEAP and could not sell it.
Now how about a three shot group I shot with my Ruger SBH at 200 yards with my cast boolit from a home made mold? Done with a 4 minute Ultra Dot. This gun has over 61,000 rounds through it and I won Ohio state with 79 out of 80. I screwed up for the last ram, not the gun. I shot many, many 40's with it.

The Ohio trophy.

You really need to prove what you say. Right now, I would buy a BFR over any revolver in the world because I have not shot one that can not do 1" at 100 yards yet if I do my part.

Lamina,

Do not go down that dark road - it leads to the poor house! Instead, PM me the name of the gun store...I'll take the temptation away from you

I have the .41 in a new-to-me Model 97 - did some pretty work with it on some Carolina critters this week breaking it in properly. Story to be posted when pics can be transferred!

I'm very happy with my SRH in .454 Casull and happily married,but I'm pretty sure if I brought home a $2200 revolver 1 of 2 things would occur.Either divorce or I would be buried in the back yard after being shot with my $699(2000 OR 2001 PRICE) SRH in .454 Casull!- and by-the-way,my wife doesn't believe in divorce!!L.O.L.

My wife just informed me I wouldn't be buried in the back yard,too many culprits get found out that way,she said there's a perfectly good burn pile in our backyard that would do the trick and nobody would think anything of the bone/powder remains because we burn bones all the time from the deer we harvest and some of the carcuses when doing our taxidermy work/man am I messed over if I get out of line!-L.O.L.

430man:

I believe there are always two sides to a story. I believe Freedom Arms is an outstanding company and would do whatever it took to make their gun right if something was wrong due to their fault.

For you to make this blanket statement: "Many are tack drivers but just as many will not group" is pretty strong, so I urge you to follow your own advice: "You really need to prove what you say."

Stating what you feel is a fact is fine, but stating something like this needs a bit more thought, on your part.

And lastly, another of your statements:

"I will not get into the trouble a customer had with Baker but it was horrid."

Maybe most important of all, 430man, I strongly suggest you DO NOT BAD MOUTH ANYBODY by name on this website, or any other.


My apologies to the rest of you readers here.

No apology needed here. Well stated, Gregg.

OK, I will leave his name out of it. What I have found is fact and it is hard to ignore things that can cost others big money.
My concern is and has always been for the shooter.
It is no different when I say that you should never buy a dehumidifier for your basement from Sears, they are junk. In two years mine was back for repair 3 times so they replaced it and the new one failed in 3 months so it has also been back 3 times. I went to Wall mart and bought one and it has been working for years.
Should I have left the name "SEARS" out of it?
It is also no different when some of you badmouth Ruger or Lee. However either one will replace or repair products without getting in your face.
A friend forgot powder in his .41 Ruger, stuck the boolit in his bore and shot another behind it, blowing the gun. He sent it to Ruger and Ruger sold him a new one at their cost. Not a single question about a hand load either.
My shooting box vanished at a shoot and my Vaquero cylinder was in it as I cleaned the bore at another bench. I sent Ruger a check with the gun and after I got the gun back, I got the check back. I called and they said the cylinder was FREE!
Lee has replaced every bad mold I ever bought, no questions at all.
Until you understand what a friend went through with Freedom, you don't have a leg to stand on.
If I ask about any product, I expect an honest answer and if you tell me something is great and I waste my money, I will only blame YOU. I refuse to lie to anyone. Take it or leave it. I give my opinions and you give yours, I have never, ever bashed a single one of you over your opinions. How you spend your money is up to you.

I have been sitting on the side line but I will put my $.02 in
I have the money to buy a FA pistol--However they just do not seem like a good value for the money.

No question they are nice guns but--I would not buy one new and if I have a chance to get one on a deal I might try but--
for me a Ruger or S&W with a little work will do as well or get you 90% there for about 1/2 the money.

This leaves money for nice optics and such

Now I said I do not own one -- but I have shot one--nice guns but they should be priced about 30% less

That would be a good value

well, i'll drop in my 2 cents. my FA have been perfect, i've had 3, they all shot extremely well. i still have 2 of them. i've had a few very picky things i didn't like on one of them and sent it back expecting a charge and they changed it for free. i never said fix, cuz nothing was really broken. i'm gonna post a good pic of a recent group i got from one in 454 casull offhand at 45 yards. pretty impressive for such an"inaccurate gun". especially with middle of the road loads that 1) aren't supposed to work 2) aren't supposed to group well if they do. i can tell ya that the imsa rankings are full of, yep you guessed it, FA winning about 99% of all the revolver categories. i know for a fact that they shoot tighter groups than my ruger 454's with all loads tested and they also group pretty darn great with reduced loads some experts claim they won't do well with. funny no one else seems to have these probs with freedom arms. my bfr is a nice pistol but has a few shortcomings compared to the FA, one being about the spongiest trigger i've ever seen. it's a bargain for the price though. all my FA shoot better than my eyes. and yes, there's much more to the story about the above "bummer" FA.

I have to put in my $.02. I am a FA fan. I currently own 7 FA revolvers (acquired both new & used over a number of years). I love them.

I also own S&Ws and Rugers. I have spent a lot of $$$ trying to get the Smiths and the Rugers to be as good as my FAs. Never yet had one that would quite measure up --- for me.

FA revolvers are produced by human hands and it is possible that not every one is perfect. I have found Bob Baker to be a very reasonable person and if I had a problem with one, I would send it back and expect it to be fixed. I can tell you that I communicated directly with him concerning my M2008 (single shot) in 6.5x55. He was very willing to do anything to help me solve my problems.

Just my thoughts on this subject.

Everyone has different experiences with every company so I will get off of it. It happens with all companies. Freedom does it's best but we all know there are bad days when things don't go right. Maybe our problems were isolated and we caught them at a bad time.
I am not anti Freedom or anti Ruger or anyone else but first impressions when you call are important. I have to forgive Mr. Baker and apologize to everyone else. Things just happen, he really made accusations that had no bearing in fact but he might have been having one of those days but it hurt our feelings. I have a lot of those days myself.
I mailed Bill Ferguson about buying some tin some time ago and the price was really high. I just said oh my gosh, I can't afford that on SS. He really crawled down my throat and scared me off. I know he is the smartest about lead alloys and works hard but why did I get blasted so hard? What do I do when I need metal now? I fully respect the man and he has been a great help, but why did he blow up? I did not have the money is all.
Small things hurt and are never forgotten.
I met someone today that will never buy a Lyman product again because his dies were bored way off center so it was seen just by eye. They gave him a lot of flack and demanded he write a letter. I have never had a problem with Lyman but you can see what happens.
Respect everyone's opinions because nobody has the same story.

Thanks 430man, I own a FA model 83 in 475Lin and I respect your opinion and experience. Fortunately I have had nothing but the best in costumer service with FA since day one, but I understand any company can have its bad days. No mater how close attention they may try to give every product I am sure one may slip out that is not up to par.

That said, I have wanted an FA for the last 10 years and finally got one this year. The price is the price, no one else makes anything like it so if you want one thats what you will pay. Kind of like the price of owning a Ferrari, yes there are other nice cars out there but its not a Ferrari.

But what if it's faster than the Ferrari, and costs a lot less than the Ferrari? I'm just sayin'......

^Just try to tell the chicks that line.

Good point!